Rant of the Month !!!

So, I’m away on holiday out of the country trying to keep in touch with what’s going on at Hillsborough - basically nothing, rumours about the Lincoln managers?!? Tony Pulis - OMG!!! and then driving up the M1 back from the airport Radio 2 of all things have a bit at the end of their hourly news that Gary Monk has just taken over at Wednesday!!! It rather scuppered what I was originally going to write but hey ho. The recent article on WOTMT ‘Can Someone Get A Grip Please’ is such an apt title with everything that goes on at our club, something that really wears me down.

OK so Chansiri cannot be blamed re the Bruce situation but I think things that really are under his control still leave a lot to be desired. If you were to harshly view our progress under his reign you could quite honestly state the following:

• When he came to the club we were a mid-table Championship Club, small wage bill average players, yes probably going nowhere quickly, but surviving on mediocre football and average prices.
• Fast forward September 2019 – mid-table Championship side? Large wage bill, average players, mediocre football, massively in debt, no longer own our ground, and vastly overpriced tickets (it was £1 more on the kop to watch QPR than the Blunts kop price to watch Leicester in the Premiership). Who on earth decides those category game prices!!!! Ridiculously priced replica shirts! A ground capacity lower than it’s ever been. At times I despair with what goes on.

I’ve nothing against Gary Monk I think he’s been ok at clubs he’s managed, but the problems we have go much deeper. I’m sorry but somewhere Chansiri just doesn’t get it, whether it’s something lost in translation or culture he just doesn’t get it. Even at the press conference introducing Monk he said “were aiming for a top two finish “??? (Monks face didn’t seem as convinced!) - really does he think this? The timing of Monks appointment really makes no logic! He was available when Bruce left, he would have had time to work with the squad, wheel and deal, stamp his authority and mould a style - why wait? Now, he’s working with a squad he can’t change until January. It’s as if Chansiri was just waiting to see what happened - but Bullen’s start is as good as any Manager we’ve had for a few years so why now? It’s totally piss poor planning, like it would seem everything else at S6.

Firstly the squad. Yes, we’ve made some changes but I still think we needed a bigger clear out. Bullen’s comment about the mental toughness of some of the players said it all. It may be that he is too close to them to sort it out but how many Managers have we had over the past few years who have failed to do this? Wednesday have for two seasons had an inability to perform consistently well, to me that says the group aren’t mentally up to it, so they need shifting out! But we don’t really move players on do we? Unless their contracts are up. All our strikers are the same, Fletcher works hard (but surely that’s a given for everyone isn’t it?) what’s the point of working hard if you rarely score a goal or control the ball?? We don’t have a striker that can change a game!! Someone on Radio Sheffield said Forestieri was our best player - ok when last did he get a MoM ?? Sorry he’s past it. I hope Monk sorts out the dead wood & I honestly think some of the popular players are living on past glories and as fans we need to wake up to this and accept it.

My next big whinge is the ground, what the f... is going on? We all know the history of Hillsborough but since 1989 the Leppings Lane end of the ground has held over 6000 away fans on many occasions, why do we suddenly have a safety problem? The ground hasn’t changed, hooliganism isn’t on the increase, but there always has been a minority of trouble makers. This is a policing problem for which the blame seems to be put on the club. It’s ridiculous to limit away fans to 2500 like against Barnsley & then reduce the capacity in the North stand to accommodate people, only being able to exit from one end. On what basis is a decision made as to a safe number to exit at the Penistone Road end? Who even makes these decisions? Why aren’t we given the full facts? Why don’t the club liaise with the council, fans and the police to sort this out? Please someone tell us what’s going on!!

I suggest we just take all the seats out of the away end and just leave 2500 spread out in the upper tier. Plant a wild flower garden in the lower tier of Leppings Lane, remove 5000 seats from the North Stand and reduce our capacity to 25000! The safety committee have gone mad, the club are being victimised over what happened in 1989 but the away end was very different then. Please someone just sort it out. I’m sick of looking at those empty blue seats behind the away goal. At every away ground you go to, even the modern ones like Derby, Hull, Huddersfield the fans come out together! The whole stadium needs a re think. Personally, I believe we should sell up and move, oops I forgot we don’t own it anymore!

I do believe this could be a pivotal moment in our history. I hate to say it but I think the other Sheffield team will stay up this season - has anyone seen the animation on their website about plans for the stadium? Don’t look it’s frightening. With money ruling football it wouldn’t take many years of us languishing in the Championship and them staying in the Premier League for Wednesday suddenly to find themselves light years behind with a stadium capacity of 25000 whilst over at S2 it will be 36000. Honestly, it’s a worryingly possibility & if our Chairman falls out with all the hassle of running a club? Doesn’t it worry anyone that he owns the ground? Sheffield Wednesday could end up without a stadium to play in. Yes, I know it sounds all too far-fetched, and some would say ridiculous, but stranger things have happened in football.